The V&A Waterfront in Cape Town is not just a location that makes a retail destination iconic, it’s also foresight – making bold decisions backed by robust data and recognising the retailers who evolve alongside them.
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That dual strategy is playing out in the form of the V&A Waterfront’s award-winning retail ecosystem, and in its powerful data platform, developed in partnership with PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), launched in 2023.
‘We knew we had a lot of data,’ says Alex Kabalin, executive manager of Retail at the V&A Waterfront, ‘but until recently, we weren’t using it as well as we could to support our tenants. That’s changed.’
A data-driven retail ecosystem
Thanks to the PwC Insights programme, the V&A Waterfront now collects and analyses over 11 million transactions over a six-month period, from card swipes that are completely anonymous and compliant with the POPI Act and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).
These insights include country of origin, and location and time of spend. The result is a living map of how and when people shop, and where they go next.
Tenants don’t have to pay to access the baseline information.
‘Participation is entirely free,’ says Kabalin. ‘That was important to us, that this isn’t something only big brands can access. We want everyone, from family-owned boutiques to global names, to benefit.’
For the precinct’s management team, this data helps inform critical decisions, from adjusting operating hours to refining the retail mix and managing spatial planning.
For tenants, it unlocks smarter decisions around stock, menus, pricing, marketing and customer knowledge - specifically what countries are making up the majority of their spend.
And, sometimes, it reveals patterns no one expected.
The Gulf state shopping insight
One good example is that the data showed a consistent influx of high-net-worth visitors from Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, who shop at very specific months of the year and also have a specific peculiarity: they want to shop late.
While the bulk of local and international shoppers stick to conventional daytime hours, Gulf visitors often arrive later in the afternoon and continue shopping late into the evening.
‘That’s something you’d never pick up unless you had this level of insight,’ says Kabalin, ‘and it changes the conversation we’re having with tenants about hours, staffing, cultural nuances and even lighting and ambience.’
It’s a small detail with big implications, the kind that makes the difference between a good season and a record-breaking one.
Celebrating retailers who get it right
Still, collecting and sharing data is only half the job. The real challenge is in encouraging uptake. Not every retailer is using the insights to their full potential, yet.
‘That’s where our annual Neighbourhood Awards come in,’ says Kabalin. ‘They’re not just about aesthetics or fit-outs. They’re about recognising retailers who are doing things differently, especially those using data to evolve and innovate.’
Now in their second year, the V&A Neighbourhood Awards celebrate retail and restaurant tenants who demonstrate excellence, originality and responsiveness to their environments.
Many of the 2024 winners are active participants in the PwC Insights Programme - and it shows.
Of the 19 core award categories, 10 of the awards went to tenants that are using the PwC insights offering as a strategic compass, with some businesses winning more than one award across different categories.
This includes Den Anker (which won the Social Impact Award last year); ONEOFEACH (Empowerment Impact Award and peer-voted Neighbourhood Champions); Shimansky (Marketing Alchemy Award and Service Excellence); AAFRICAA (Inspired Visual Merchandising Award, Service Excellence and Staff Talent Awards); Rabinowitz Photography (Service Excellence); and Spur, which won the People’s Choice Award.
‘Whether it’s a tenant adjusting their wine list based on the data, or a lifestyle store tweaking stock for an emerging local customer base, these are the decisions that turn insights into performance,’ says Kabalin. ‘And those are the people we want to celebrate.’
A culture of curiosity
One of the most important shifts the V&A Waterfront is fostering is what Kabalin calls a ‘culture of curiosity’. For many retailers, particularly smaller, independent ones, the word ‘data’ can sound intimidating or overly technical. But in practice, it’s about intuition being backed by evidence.
‘It’s not about turning everyone into data scientists,’ he says. ‘It’s about helping people ask better questions. Why are we stocking this item? Who’s coming through our doors, and when? Are we missing a trend we didn’t even know existed?’
To that end, the PwC team shares reports regularly, but also offers ad-hoc support when needed. Since inception of the programme, it has issued two quarterly reports and one six-month report. Tenants can compare their precinct’s behaviour to others, see which categories are trending, and view demographic shifts as they happen.
And the insights are getting sharper all the time. The V&A Waterfront is exploring even more ways to bring real-time information into planning decisions, from pop-up activations to long-term leasing.
What’s next?
With momentum building, the PwC Insights programme is expanding to include even more customisation and tenant feedback. In the coming year, the V&A Waterfront team hopes to onboard more tenant operators, provide more frequent reporting cycles and begin hosting data workshops to help tenants turn insights into strategy.
‘Retail has changed. Landlords can’t just collect rent and hope for the best any more,’ says Kabalin. ‘We have to be partners in performance. And that means giving our tenants the tools they need to succeed.’
In a time when many retail precincts are scrambling to maintain relevance, the V&A Waterfront is showing what’s possible when data is shared openly, used collaboratively and trusted as a tool for transformation.
‘This is about shared value,’ says Kabalin. ‘When our tenants thrive, we all thrive. Data helps us remove the guesswork and build towards long-term resilience, not just for the V&A Waterfront, but for the broader retail ecosystem.’
